Topic : Sexual Reproduction and its origin

Student Name : Sadia Imam

Roll no : B1F17BSZL0054

Assignment : Developmental Biology

Submitted To : Dr . Rana Nazeer

Submission Date : 20-4-2020

University OF Central Punjab Bahawalpur

What is sexual reproduction and its
origin?
Sexual reproduction:
Sexual reproduction is a type of reproduction
that involves a complete life cylce in which a
gamete with a single set of chromosomes
combine with another to produce an organisms
composed of cell with two set of chromosomes.
Explanation:
In the production of sex cell in eukaryotes
diploid mother cell divide to produce haploid
cell known as gametes in a process called
meiosis.The homologus chromosomes pair up
so that their DNA sequence are aligned with
each other so this is followed by the exchange
of genetic information between them.
Two rounds of cell division then produce 4
haploid gametes each with half number of
chromosomes from each parent cell,but with
the genetic information in the parental
chromosomes recombined.Two haploid
gametes combine into a one diploid cell known
as a zygote in a process called fertilization.
In human reproduction each cell contain 46
chromosomes in 23 pairs.Meiosis in parent
gonads produces gametes that each contain
only 23 chromosomes.When the nuclei of the
gametes come close togather to form a
fertilized egg each cell of the resulting child will
have 23 chromosomes.
Sexual reproduction in different animals:
INSECTS:
Insect species reproduce sexually. Typically
they have two sexes with male producing
spermatozoa and female ova.Ova develop into
a egg that have a covering called the chorion
which forms before internal fertilization .
BIRDS:
Birds have two sexes: either female or male.
The sex of birds is determined by the Z and W
sex chromosomes, rather than by the X and Y
chromosomes present in mammals. Male birds
have two Z chromosomes (ZZ), and female birds
have a W chromosome and a Z chromosome
Mammals:
Most mammals are viviparous, giving birth to live
young. However, the five species of monotreme,
 the platypuses and the echidnas, lay eggs. The
monotremes have a sex determination system
different from that of most other mammals.
Origin of sexual reproduction:
Sex Evolves When Selection Changes Over
Time:
Current models indicate that sex evolves more readily
when a species' environment changes rapidly. When the
genetic associations built up by past selection are no
longer favorable, sex and recombination can improve the
fitness of offspring, thereby turning the recombination
load into an advantage. One important source of
environmental change is a shift in the community of
interacting species, especially host and parasite species.
This is the so-called "Red Queen" hypothesis for the
evolution of sex, which refers to the need for a species to
evolve as fast as it can just to keep apace of coevolving
species Increased allocation to sexual reproduction can
evolve because of "Red Queen" interactions, but only if
selection is strong enough to cause rapid switches in
which gene combinations are favorable.
Sex Evolves When Selection Changes Over
Space:
Sex can also be favored when selection varies over space,
as long as the genetic associations created by migration
are locally disadvantageous. Whether this requirement is
common in nature remains an open question.
Sex Evolves When Organisms Are Less
Adapted to Their Environment:
Organisms that reproduce both sexually and asexually
tend to switch to sex under stressful conditions.
Mathematical models have revealed that it is much
easier for sex to evolve if individuals that are adapted to
their environment reproduce asexually and less fit
individuals reproduce sexually. In this way, well-adapted
genotypes are not broken apart by recombination, but
poorly adapted genotypes can be recombined to create
new combinations in offspring.
Sex Evolves When Populations Are Finite:
Models that account for the fact that population sizes are
finite have found that sex and recombination evolve
much more readily. With a limited number of individuals
in a population, selection erodes easily accessible
variation, leaving only hidden variation .

Recombination can then reveal this hidden variation,

improving the response to selection. By improving the
response to selection, genes that increase the frequency
of sex become associated with fitter genotypes, which
rise in frequency alongside them. Interestingly, the
requirement that fitness surfaces exhibit weak and
negative curvature is relaxed in populations of finite size;
here, fitness surfaces may be uncurved or positively
curved and still favor sex.